Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Bulletin: 'Color of Change'- a civil rights advocacy organization - denounces 'medical terrorism' and calls on prosecutors to protect black mothers - noting that "black pregnant people are exponentially more likely to experience devastating pregnancy outcomes" - such as the many who've been criminalized and arrested for actions that include things like taking legal drugs prescribed by their doctor, having a miscarriage, addiction, getting into a car accident, and even falling down the stairs."..."Law enforcement including prosecutors has no place in pregnancy decisions."


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "Criminalizing reproduction: (Attacks on Science, Medicine and the Right To Choose): I have taken on the  theme of criminalizing reproduction - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with  flawed science in its myriad forms,   and its flawed devotees (like former Doctor Charles Smith) - as I am utterly opposed to the current movement in the United States and some other countries - towards imprisoning women and their physicians on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). Control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America or anywhere else so they can  participate  equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for  loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. I will continue to follow relevant cases - and the mounting wave of  legislative attacks aimed at chipping away at  Roe V. Wade - including the current direct  assault now before the conservatively dominated U.S. Supreme Court -  and ultimately dismantling it."

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PASSAGE  OF THE DAY: "Now is your chance to take your support to the next level. Because with your help, we can continue to put pressure on prosecutors and elected officials who have the power to ensure no one is thrown in jail based on a pregnancy outcome."  

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RELEASE: "Prosecutors should do this for black mothers," by Erika Male (Color of Change)  published on July 30, 2021.  (ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change."

SUB-HEADING: "Join the movement to demand care not cages."

GIST: "Here's the thing: medical terrorism has always been used to perpetuate and enforce racist assumptions about Black women and their bodies.

Look no further than James Marion Sims, also known as the "Father of Gynecology." Sims regularly performed forced surgeries, without anesthesia, on enslaved women under the guise of science.

Followers of this work embraced notions that Black women had a higher tolerance for pain when receiving medical treatment while ignoring that these women were forcibly restrained under threat of death for these procedures. Such stereotypes have informed contemporary medical racism.

Today, Black women in the United States face a maternal health crisis. Regardless of factors like higher education or financial means, Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes than white mothers -- the widest of all racial disparities in women's health. These deaths are preventable, and their causes are rooted in structural racism, not race.

As a result, Black pregnant people are exponentially more likely to experience devastating pregnancy outcomes. There are hundreds of pregnant people who've been criminalized and arrested for actions that include things like taking legal drugs prescribed by their doctor, having a miscarriage, addiction, getting into a car accident, and even falling down the stairs.

Harold, we're fighting back, but first, we need your help. Now is your chance to take your support to the next level. Because with your help, we can continue to put pressure on prosecutors and elected officials who have the power to ensure no one is thrown in jail based on a pregnancy outcome.

When our people get access to the reproductive healthcare we need, we thrive. 

That starts with demanding the solutions that will aid in the healing and prioritization of our reproductive autonomy. This includes a world in which our people are treated with dignity, and free to make choices about our own bodies.

We deserve meaningful options regarding where, how, and with whom we will give birth, in a person-centered, anti-racist model of care. We deserve the support of midwives, doulas, and perinatal services that are fully integrated into the maternal care system. Law enforcement including prosecutors has no place in pregnancy decisions. With your help, we can continue our fight calling on them to say NO to criminalizing Black mothers.

Until justice is real."

The entire release can be read at:


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;